https://mithridate.com/
Showing posts with label Spring Summer '25. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Spring Summer '25. Show all posts
Monday, September 16, 2024
BEAUTY: Clothing--Mithridate
Mithridate, the label founded by Chinese designer Demon Zhang, continues to mine creative inspiration from her home country. For this vibrant SS '25 collection at London Fashion Week, she looked at the heritage clothing from the Yunnan, her home province. She employed the beautiful patterns, colors, and embellishments of several different ethnic groups (hats from the Kucong and pom-poms from the Hani) that all bear some resemblance to the native dress of nearby Myanmar, Bhutan, and Nepal.
https://mithridate.com/
https://mithridate.com/
BEAUTYY: Clothing--Simone Rocha
For her SS '25 collection at London Fashion Week, Simone Rocha looked to legendary choreographers Pina Bausch and Michael Clark as inspiration for a runway full of dancers in their off-time, getting ready for a show or just coming off stage. This was a co-ed collection and the women sported lots of tulle but so did the men! And as a reference to Bausch's piece "Nelken (Carnations)" in which dancers perform on a stage blooming with 8,000 carnations, Rocha embellishes tops and jackets with embroidered or jeweled carnations. The entire affair feels calculatedly romantic, but the appearance on a tee shirt of a grotesque reimagining of Edouard Manet's "Olympia" by artist Genieve Figgis intriguingly skews the sense of the collection to something slightly darker...
https://simonerocha.com
https://simonerocha.com
Saturday, September 14, 2024
BEAUTY: Clothing--Qasimi
It's London Fashion Week! The September schedule is a nice bridge between the January-February and June-July shows. So let's take a look...
Khalid Al Qasimi, an Emerati royal, founded his fashion house in 2008, and the brand quickly gained prominence in the fashion world. But after his death of a drug overdoes in 2019, his twin sister, Hoor Al Qasimi took over the house, and has done a great job of keeping the vision of the brand alive.
Hoor continues Khalid's language of the Middle East with garments that are loose and breezy to combat the heat. These looks for her Spring-Summer 2025 collection approach a more casual, streetwear sense than in the past, and she has included some interesting prints. But the last look featuring wearable art jewelry is a bit of a surprise for the brand. I like it.
https://www.qasimi.com/
Khalid Al Qasimi, an Emerati royal, founded his fashion house in 2008, and the brand quickly gained prominence in the fashion world. But after his death of a drug overdoes in 2019, his twin sister, Hoor Al Qasimi took over the house, and has done a great job of keeping the vision of the brand alive.
Hoor continues Khalid's language of the Middle East with garments that are loose and breezy to combat the heat. These looks for her Spring-Summer 2025 collection approach a more casual, streetwear sense than in the past, and she has included some interesting prints. But the last look featuring wearable art jewelry is a bit of a surprise for the brand. I like it.
https://www.qasimi.com/
BEAUTY: Clothing--Nuba
The talent incubator Fashion East has been a fantastic force in the fashion world. Founded by Lulu Kennedy MBE, Fashion East has nurtured the likes of Kim Jones, Craig Green, Simone Rocha, Martine Rose, Wales Bonner, Charles Jeffrey Loverboy, Per Gotesson, J.W. Anderson, all of whom can be found featured on this blog! The organization takes on three designers at a time, and allows them to show three collections before rotating out to a different cast of designers.
Among the current crop is a new brand, Nuba, helmed by Jebi Labembika and Cameron Williams. Their Spring-Summer '25 collection shown at London Fashion Week is called "Smoke" and is based on Afro-Caribbean cultures but to my eyes, it looks as if they are simply enjoying working with their medium. Much like an abstract painter can create a work that explores and celebrates the element of paint, just letting it do what it is going to do on the canvas, the Nuba duo seem to be reveling in how fabric drapes and how pieces join to create shapes. Geometry alternates with flowing folds, creating a beautiful statement that is both contemporary and classical.
I can't find a dedicated site for their brand, but it looks like Ssense is an on-line stockist.
https://www.ssense.com/en-us/men/designers/nuba/clothing
Among the current crop is a new brand, Nuba, helmed by Jebi Labembika and Cameron Williams. Their Spring-Summer '25 collection shown at London Fashion Week is called "Smoke" and is based on Afro-Caribbean cultures but to my eyes, it looks as if they are simply enjoying working with their medium. Much like an abstract painter can create a work that explores and celebrates the element of paint, just letting it do what it is going to do on the canvas, the Nuba duo seem to be reveling in how fabric drapes and how pieces join to create shapes. Geometry alternates with flowing folds, creating a beautiful statement that is both contemporary and classical.
I can't find a dedicated site for their brand, but it looks like Ssense is an on-line stockist.
https://www.ssense.com/en-us/men/designers/nuba/clothing
BEAUTY: Clothing--Olly Shinder
The talent incubator Fashion East has been a fantastic force in the fashion world. Founded by Lulu Kennedy MBE, Fashion East has nurtured the likes of Kim Jones, Craig Green, Simone Rocha, Martine Rose, Wales Bonner, Charles Jeffrey Loverboy, Per Gotesson, J.W. Anderson, all of whom can be found featured on this blog! The organization takes on three designers at a time, and allows them to show three collections before rotating out to a different cast of designers.
The current crop of talent at Fashion East includes young designer Olly Shinder (previously here) who showed his SS '25 collection--his last under the Fashion East wing--at London Fashion Week. Shinder is inspired by his interaction with the underground gay fetish world. He told Vogue UK that his fascination lies in uniforms, and this collection, while still letting the fetish world peek out, was definitely more centered on the idea of a uniform being a vehicle to remove any traces of individuality for membership in a tribe or corps.
https://olly-shinder.com/
The current crop of talent at Fashion East includes young designer Olly Shinder (previously here) who showed his SS '25 collection--his last under the Fashion East wing--at London Fashion Week. Shinder is inspired by his interaction with the underground gay fetish world. He told Vogue UK that his fascination lies in uniforms, and this collection, while still letting the fetish world peek out, was definitely more centered on the idea of a uniform being a vehicle to remove any traces of individuality for membership in a tribe or corps.
https://olly-shinder.com/
Wednesday, June 26, 2024
BEAUTY: Clothing--Thom Browne
When Thom Browne dreams up a collection, he truly commits to the theming of its presentation, something I admire about him. For his Spring Summer '25 women's and men's collection shown in Paris the other day, he took the upcoming Olympics in the City of Light as an inspiration. The show space held a static tug of war game as the audience filed into the Musée des Arts Décoratifs with its classically carved walls. The official start of the show saw The Spirit Of The Olympics appear to an orchestral fanfare worthy of any Olympics wearing a headpiece made of gold laurel leaves, and the tug of war teams went at it. But there was no apparent winner and they marched out of the space for the couture section to begin.
Browne's deconstructed suits and dresses came out in tones of white (a huge change from his dark collections of late), all made from lightweight muslin, the type of which is used in fashion house ateliers to mock up sample garments. But here, Browne used the material in various weights to create exquisite couture creations. Added to the Browne vernacular is intricate hand embroidery and beading, showing athletes in various poses on several pieces while models carried embroidery hoops with figures...the first model even wore an embroidery hoop hat. But one of the show stopping pieces was a dress showing on one half the human muscular system, as though the model had been flayed open. The other half showed the shape of muscles as seen with skin. And the wedding dress that closes the show is jaw dropping. Also of note: fantastic wrestling boots with cleats and an invisible heel! The final tableau was a trio of models in intricately embroidered and beaded jackets of, you guessed it, bronze, silver, and gold.
Do take a look at the video below. The show proper starts at 15:45. And the creations are wonderful.
https://www.thombrowne.com/
Browne's deconstructed suits and dresses came out in tones of white (a huge change from his dark collections of late), all made from lightweight muslin, the type of which is used in fashion house ateliers to mock up sample garments. But here, Browne used the material in various weights to create exquisite couture creations. Added to the Browne vernacular is intricate hand embroidery and beading, showing athletes in various poses on several pieces while models carried embroidery hoops with figures...the first model even wore an embroidery hoop hat. But one of the show stopping pieces was a dress showing on one half the human muscular system, as though the model had been flayed open. The other half showed the shape of muscles as seen with skin. And the wedding dress that closes the show is jaw dropping. Also of note: fantastic wrestling boots with cleats and an invisible heel! The final tableau was a trio of models in intricately embroidered and beaded jackets of, you guessed it, bronze, silver, and gold.
Do take a look at the video below. The show proper starts at 15:45. And the creations are wonderful.
Monday, June 24, 2024
BEAUTY: Clothing--Dries Van Noten
Dries Van Noten is retiring and this is his last collection. Surprising that a designer with Van Noten's status would retire...usually designers are forced out of their positions or, not to be indelicate, die, naturally or otherwise. But it was nice that he announced his retirement before this collection so we could all feel the importance of what we are seeing.
Van Noten is one of the Antwerp Six, a group of fashion designers who trained at Antwerp's Royal Academy of Fine Arts between 1980–81, composed of Walter Van Beirendonck, Ann Demeulemeester, Dirk Van Saene, Dirk Bikkembergs, Marina Yee, and of course Van Noten (there is a sort of Fifth Beatle, an unofficial member of the Antwerp Six, Martin Margiela). Actually, Demeulemeester retired from her own house in 2013 so there is a bit of precedent. But still, after 38 years and an avalanche of incredible collections, Van Noten is leaving.
And his Spring Summer '25 collection is a high note on which to go out. It shows his deft hand at pattern and color mixing, in a restrained, whisper of a way (peach, adobe, and soft pistachio). On a runway strewn with real silver leaf which fluttered and stirred as the models (mature and young!) walked the runway, David Bowie's words from the documentary "Moonage Daydream" rang out: "Time: one of the most complex expressions. Memory made manifest. It's something that straddles past and future without ever quite being present." As his spoken word section concluded, "You're aware of a deeper existence, maybe a temporary reassurance that indeed there is no beginning, no end," it was clear that the emotion of the occasion was being imprinted on the space itself with the silver leafing being tramped down while other pieces escaped, a possible metaphor for time and all we know. This is the great power of creation which occupies the work of strong designers...it applies to all the arts but the basics--food, clothing, shelter--can turn into exquisite cuisine, haute couture, and interior design which touches something in us that goes beyond shelter, turning a space into a sanctuary.
This menswear collection was shown on men and women...Van Noten said, "It’s all one big happy world, and everybody can wear whatever they want." Sheer fabrics, python (on shorts, boots, shirts!), brushed wool fused to neoprene, a crinkled polyamide, a foiled chatoyant material that reads silver or gold depending on the light, and a gorgeous section of large scale florals printed using suminagashi, an ancient Japanese dying technique, all on Van Noten's exquisite cuts and tailoring (the way he cuts a simple trench coat *sigh*). Please do take a few minutes to look at the video, with a soundtrack of remixed Bowie music, to see, hear, and feel the beauty. Thanks for 38 years of exquisite clothing, Dries!
https://www.driesvannoten.com/
Van Noten is one of the Antwerp Six, a group of fashion designers who trained at Antwerp's Royal Academy of Fine Arts between 1980–81, composed of Walter Van Beirendonck, Ann Demeulemeester, Dirk Van Saene, Dirk Bikkembergs, Marina Yee, and of course Van Noten (there is a sort of Fifth Beatle, an unofficial member of the Antwerp Six, Martin Margiela). Actually, Demeulemeester retired from her own house in 2013 so there is a bit of precedent. But still, after 38 years and an avalanche of incredible collections, Van Noten is leaving.
And his Spring Summer '25 collection is a high note on which to go out. It shows his deft hand at pattern and color mixing, in a restrained, whisper of a way (peach, adobe, and soft pistachio). On a runway strewn with real silver leaf which fluttered and stirred as the models (mature and young!) walked the runway, David Bowie's words from the documentary "Moonage Daydream" rang out: "Time: one of the most complex expressions. Memory made manifest. It's something that straddles past and future without ever quite being present." As his spoken word section concluded, "You're aware of a deeper existence, maybe a temporary reassurance that indeed there is no beginning, no end," it was clear that the emotion of the occasion was being imprinted on the space itself with the silver leafing being tramped down while other pieces escaped, a possible metaphor for time and all we know. This is the great power of creation which occupies the work of strong designers...it applies to all the arts but the basics--food, clothing, shelter--can turn into exquisite cuisine, haute couture, and interior design which touches something in us that goes beyond shelter, turning a space into a sanctuary.
This menswear collection was shown on men and women...Van Noten said, "It’s all one big happy world, and everybody can wear whatever they want." Sheer fabrics, python (on shorts, boots, shirts!), brushed wool fused to neoprene, a crinkled polyamide, a foiled chatoyant material that reads silver or gold depending on the light, and a gorgeous section of large scale florals printed using suminagashi, an ancient Japanese dying technique, all on Van Noten's exquisite cuts and tailoring (the way he cuts a simple trench coat *sigh*). Please do take a few minutes to look at the video, with a soundtrack of remixed Bowie music, to see, hear, and feel the beauty. Thanks for 38 years of exquisite clothing, Dries!
https://www.driesvannoten.com/
Sunday, June 23, 2024
BEAUTY: Clothing--KidSuper
Colm Dillane's KidSuper label officailly debuted on the schedule for The Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode in 2020, during a global pandemic no less. He collaborates on not only his clothing line, but also his many other ventures: he paints and does art shows, records music, and makes music videos. Coming from Brooklyn, selling T-shirts from his New York University dorm room, and without any formal training, he now heads a global fashion brand which still retains a freewheeling, improvised sense. His dedication to art is very apparent as he regularly uses his own paintings as material to print onto coats. jackets, pants, and shirts.
So for this artful Spring Summer '25 collection, he collaborated with Cirque du Soleil to create a fanciful show centered on marionettes and circus performers. On display were many pieces featuring Dillane's paintings which resemble by turns works by Peter Max, Heinz Edelmann (art director for The Beatles film "Yellow Submarine"), Jean Cocteau, and various California Figurative Expressionists. And this collection adds Matisse-like monstera leaf cutouts, and leaves and flowers all appliquéd to create a 3D effect. I love his rich focus on art for its own sake.
https://kidsuper.com/
So for this artful Spring Summer '25 collection, he collaborated with Cirque du Soleil to create a fanciful show centered on marionettes and circus performers. On display were many pieces featuring Dillane's paintings which resemble by turns works by Peter Max, Heinz Edelmann (art director for The Beatles film "Yellow Submarine"), Jean Cocteau, and various California Figurative Expressionists. And this collection adds Matisse-like monstera leaf cutouts, and leaves and flowers all appliquéd to create a 3D effect. I love his rich focus on art for its own sake.
https://kidsuper.com/
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
